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By Simon Lester in Trade Agreements — — Share

Congress Should Push for Transparency in the Enforcement of the New U.S. Trade Deals

U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer is scheduled to testify tomorrow before a House Subcommittee, with a focus on the USTR budget but if I recall correctly from past experience any topic can be raised at these budget hearings (and I would think he will testify soon on the President's 2026 trade agenda, although I haven't seen anything announced yet). If any Congressional staffers are reading this, I have some suggestions for questions that members of Congress might ask him, either at tomorrow's hearing or future hearings on the trade agenda.

In the 2026 Trade Policy Agenda report submitted by Greer to Congress last month, there is this passage on enforcement of U.S. trade agreements and U.S. trade laws:

Pursue Robust Enforcement of Agreements on Reciprocal Trade, Other Trade Agreements, and United States Trade Laws

In addition to striking new deals with our trading partners, USTR will pursue robust enforcement of all of our trade agreements and trade laws. In 2026, USTR will closely monitor implementation of existing ART commitments and those embodied in forthcoming ARTs, as well as other existing trade agreements, and enforce when necessary. ...

Here are some questions I have related to enforcement of the Agreements on Reciprocal Trade (ARTs) in particular:

  • Will USTR notify the public and/or Congress when it is pursuing enforcement of specific obligations under the ARTs?
  • Related to this, the ARTs have a provision on requesting consultations with the other party to the agreement. Will USTR notify the public and/or Congress when it has requested these consultations? Will these requests be made public?
  • Will USTR document for the public and/or Congress the enforcement actions it has taken under the ARTs and the results thereof?

I raise these points because it will be difficult to evaluate the impact of the agreements without evidence relating to enforcement activity. Ideally, the public should know as much as possible about what has been happening here. At the least, though, I would think Congress would want to know, and this hearing is an opportunity to emphasize this.

While we are on the subject of questions for Greer, I would add the following to the list of things that members of Congress might ask:

  • Could you provide updates on whether and to what extent the countries with which the Trump administration has negotiated ARTs have lowered tariffs or modified statutes, regulations, practices, or policies pursuant to the agreements?
  • Have you seen an increase in exports to the ART countries relative to exports to other trading partners, and if so in which products/services?

He might not have full details on these questions off the top of his head, but they could be submitted in writing later as questions for the record.

And then finally, just for fun, here is one more question that members of Congress could ask him:

UPDATE:

The House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the 2026 Trade Policy Agenda has been scheduled for April 22; the Senate Finance Committee hearing is scheduled for April 23.

Here are a few more questions members of Congress might consider asking at these hearings:

  • What is the statutory or Constitutional authority for the administration to enter into the Agreements on Reciprocal Trade or the other trade deals it is negotiating?
  • In the context of the upcoming USMCA joint review, who gets to make the decision about whether the U.S. government wishes to extend the USMCA for another 16 year term (pursuant to USMCA Article 34.7.3)? Does Congress have the authority, in your view, to pass legislation that would commit the U.S. government to supporting an extension?
  • Are the tariffs to be imposed pursuant to the ongoing Section 301 investigations likely to violate GATT Article I:1 (MFN) and Article II (tariff bindings)? If so, what GATT exceptions does USTR plan to invoke in order to justify the tariffs?